Startup Script

A startup script is a set of commands to be executed by a translator when it starts.

Data sources can be opened in this script and will then be ready for all clients who connect to the service. Clients then do not need to use the open command in their sessions.

Note: When the data source is huge, e.g. data covering all roads in the US, it is often useful to start a number of translator services each with a different geographic coverage in their startup script. Clients can then connect to different translator processes depending on their area of interest.

In addition to commands to open data sources, other commands can be executed in a translator startup script to set a common environment for all client sessions, e.g. set a clipping region, set default symbology.

Commands which are forbidden in a startup script are those which require a client connection, e.g. query selection, data retrieval etc.

A startup script can be specified for a translator by the -start=<file> phrase on the translator's program command line. <file> usually has the extension .ifx to differentiate it from Fire scripts which have the extension .cmd.